
\h']P3 



E 595 

.117 P3 
Copy 1 



MEMORIAL 



OF THE 



Patriotic League of the Revolution 



TO THE 



Fifty-Seventh Congress 
of the United States 

For the Recognition of Services Rendered by 



THEODORE R. TIMBY 

TKe Inventor of tKe Revolving Turret 

As vised on the Monitor a^nd a^ll Ba.ttle-Ships 
from the Civil We^r to the Present Time 

AND ALSO 

TKe Inventor of SigKting. a^nd Firing 
Heavy Guns witK Electricity 

As used in Watr-Ships throughout the world 






Hugh McCuUoch says : 

"'But for the Navy, the rebellion would not have 
been overcome^ 



But for the Monitor there vi^ould have been no 
Navy. 



But for Theodore R. Timby there would have 
been no Alonitor. 



There might have been other Capitalists, 
There might have been other Engineers, 
There might have been other Builders, 
But there could he but one Inventor of 
the Revolving Turret. 



/ / ->:^- 






iMyCcunt€^fZ 




^^- 




Theodore R. Timby, S.D., LL.D. 



MEMORIAL 

OF THE 

Patriotic League of the Revolution 



TO THE 



Fifty-Seventh Congress 
OF THE United States 



Honorable Senators and Members of the Fifty- 
seventh Congress of the United States : 

Gentlemen : — 

The Patriotic League of the Revolution begs 
to bring before you a case of vital interest to 
every American who loves justice and fair play. 

The case referred to is that of Theodore R. 
Timby, the Inventor of the Revolving Turret of the 
famous Monitor. 

Of all the achievements that have made this 
country great and glorious, there are three which 
stand out in high and bold relief, viz. : The victory 
of the little Monitor at Hampton Roads, the sink- 
ing of the Spanish fleet in Manilla Bay, and the 
final great naval victory at Santiago. 

Gentlemen, to these three most momentous 
achievements of modern times, the people of the 
United States are primarily indebted to Theodore 
R. Timby, — as will be shown. 

Ignorant as to the facts in this case, many 
of the present generation have accorded to 



John Ericsson, the Swedish engineer, the honor 
of the invention of the Turreted Monitor. 

One of the inconceivable things in this day of 
printing and telegraphy is, that it is possible to so 
blind the eyes of the great public, that an inven- 
tion so closely allied to our very national life, could 
have been so shamefully misplaced. 

But when the truth is known, the perpetuation 
of such an injustice and falsity, through the medium 
of our school text-books, is an unpardonable crime 
against history. The fact that our leading Amer- 
ican cyclopedias give a full, detailed account, fine- 
ly illustrated, of the distinguished American whose 
genius marked one of the most important epochs 
in Naval history, while the text-books of our schools 
and academies throughout the land not only ig- 
nore these facts, but give this honor to a foreigner, 
is a national disgrace. 

Theodore R. Timby, a native of Dutchess 
County, New York, was a born inventor. When 
sixteen years of age, he invented the floating dry- 
dock. Then followed a device for raising sunken 
vessels. Later he invented the turbine water 
wheel, which was used all over the country, and 
was a financial success. 

When but nineteen years of age, as he was 
crossing the ferry, on his way to Jersey City, he 
obtained a clear viev^ of the old circular fort on 
Governor's Island, and at once his mind conceived 
the idea of an iron structure, circular in form, 
made to revolve on a vertical center, which would 






make all of its guns available at any desired 
point on the horizon. 

He at once made a simple drawing of a re- 
volving battery, and went to Washington to lay 
his invention before the officials of the Govern- 
ment. This occurred in 1841. 

He submitted his drawing to Senator John C. 
Calhoun, afterwards Secretary of State, who asked 
that a model be made. 

In a few days the young inventor produced a 
small ivory model, representing the w^onderful 
turret which was destined to play such an im- 
portant part at the time when our nation's life 
was at stake. 

On the 18th of January, 1843, Mr. Timby filed 
a caveat for the invention of the Revolving Turret, 
in the United States Patent office, pa.jmg his fee 
to the Government. (See illustration, Ivory Turret). 

Later, Jefferson Davis became interested in the 
invention as a plan of national defense, but advised 
Mr. Timby to defer taking out the patent at that 
time, saying: *'We are at peace with all the 
world, and have no need of war-ships." 

Mr. Timby followed his advice, and kept the 
caveat alive. 

In the spring of the same year, Mr. Timby sent 
by Caleb Cushing, our first Minister to China, a 
model of a floating device of the turret. (See illus- 
tration). On Mr. Cushing's return, about a year 
later, Mr. Timby received a complimentary acknowl- 
edgement of his model, from a Chinese War Mandarin. 



About tlie middle of June of the same year, 
1843, President T3der and liis Cabinet, on their 
\Yay to celebrate the completion of the Bunker 
Hill monument, called at the Governor's room at 
City Hall, New York, and examined an expensive 
model of the Timbj^ Turret. 

The ordinance and engineer department did not 
take kindly to the invention. But a year or two 
later Mr. Timby succeeded in getting a mixed com- 
mission appointed to examine his invention of the 
turret. This commission consisted of General Bank- 
head, Chairman, and Colonel Thornton of the Army, 
and Joe Smith of the Navy. Thornton and Smith 
reported against the invention on account of the 
cost of iron. General Bankhead made a minority 
report in its favor. 

Mr. Timby was the first to advocate iron in 
construction of v^rar-ships. 

Convinced of the value of his turret, he never 
let a year go by Avithout urging its adoption by 
the Government. 

Other claims to his invention have been sug- 
gested ; but his caveat ante-dates every other claim 
by thirteen years; and this fact was settled by 
the Patent Office in 1841. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, he took out 
letters patent covering the broad principle of the 
turret, whether used on land or water. 

The year 1861 found us without a nsLYj or any 
system of coast defense. Patriotic men of wealth 
saw the necessities of the hour; and the inventor 



of the turret succeeded in enlisting his friends, 
John F. Winslow and John A. Griswold, partners in 
business at Troy, N. Y., in the matter. They, with 
C. S. Bushnell of New Haven, Conn., came forward 
w^ith the determination to build a war-ship on the 
turret system at their own risk. 

For so doing, Winslow and Griswold furnished 
ninety per cent, of the $275,000, the cost of the 
Monitor, while Bushnell furnished ten per cent, of 
this sum. In this connection, Ericsson received, as 
a remuneration for his services as engineer, five 
per cent, of the gross receipts paid for the Monitor 
and other kindred vessels built by the Winslow, Gris- 
wold and Bushnell Company. Mr. Timby was 
paid a royalty of $5,000 for the use of his patented 
turret used on the Monitor and two other vessels 
built by said company. This royalty on three ves- 
sels was paid to him by his friends, and was all 
that he ever received from his great invention. 

The Company, including the engineer, succeeded 
in gaining a contract with the Government; and 
the Monitor was built within a short space of 
one hundred daj^s, the time demanded by the 
Government for its completion. 

The Government paid for the Monitor $275,- 
000. The actual cost being $195,000; thus leav-' 
ing a good profit for the company. _-' 

You all know what followed. The first-class 
40-gun, steam frigate, Merrimac, which by Cap- 
tain McCauley's order had been scuttled, partly 
sunk and abandoned, fell an easy prey to the 



Confederates. After being raised, and plated with 
railroad iron, her ends and sides were thoroughly 
shielded. When she went forth on her mission of 
destruction her work was terrible! She bore 
down on the Cumberland, sinking her, with one 
hundred men dead or dying on her deck. The 
Congress soon shared the same unhappy fate. Her 
commander and pilot, with nearly half her crew, 
were killed or wounded, while the white flag floated 
over her as a signal of surrender. 

President Lincoln had convened his cabinet to 
talk over the gloomy situation. Secretary Stanton 
said, "The Merrimac will change the \vhole course 
of the war. She will destroy seriatim every naval 
vessel. She will lay all the cities on the sea- 
board under contribution. I shall immediately 
recall Burnside. Port Royal must be abandoned. 
I will notify the Government, and municipal au- 
thorities in the North, to take instant measures 
to protect their harbors. I have no doubt that the 
enemy is at this moment on her w^ay to Wash- 
ington, and it is not at all unlikely that we shall 
have a shell or a cannon ball from her guns, in 
the White House before vre leave this room." 

Captain John Marston, of the steam-ship Roan- 
oke, in command of the fleet, learned from one 
of his lookout vessels that "the enemy was com- 
ing." Bvit the machinery of the Roanoke was 
disabled, the Minnesota temporarily stranded, the 
Congress surrendered and on fire, while all that 
was left of the ill-fated Cumberland above the 



water, was old glory streaming from her top- 
mast. 

The crisis of the Civil War was at hand; and 
the cause of the Union never before seemed so hope- 
less. At this momentous hour, the little iron-clad 
Monitor, two guns, reached Fortress Monroe, and 
was immediate^ dispatched to the aid of the Min- 
nesota, reporting to Captain Van Brunt, at two 
o'clock A. M. The world has never seen a greater 
^'friend in need." 

At six A. M., March 9th, 1862, the Confeder- 
ate flotilla re-appeared "and the drums of the 
Minnesota beat to quarters." 

Horace Greeley says, "Again all hands were 
called to quarters, and the Minnesota, opening 
with her stern guns, signalled the Monitor to at- 
tack, when the undaunted little 'cheese-box on a 
raft' steamed down upon the rebel ApoUyon and 
laid her alongside, directly between the Minnesota 
and her assailant. Gun after gun from the Mon- 
itor, responded to with whole broadsides from 
the Merrimac, seemed to produce no more im- 
pression than a hail storm on a mountain-cliff; 
until, tired of thus w^asting their ammunition, 
they maneuvered for a better position. In this, 
the Monitor being lighter and far more easily 
manageable than her foe, had the advantage; 
and the Merrimac disgusted, renewed her atten- 
tion to the Minnesota, disregarding a broadside, 
which would have sunk any un-plated ship on 
the globe." 



A 



In this memorable fight, the Merrimac was 
disabled and withdrew, with her prow twisted, 
her anchor and flagstaff shot awaj^, her sinoke- 
stack and steam-pipe riddled, two of her crew 
killed and eight wounded, including her com- 
mander, Buchanan. 

Our loss was probably 400 men, including 25 
taken from the Congress and carried off by the 
gunboat. 

All the world sounded the praises of the Mon- 
itor. Hugh McCuUoch, Secretary of the Treasury 
during the administrations of Lincoln, Johnson, 
and Arthur, writes, "But for the opportune ar- 
rival of the Monitor on the ninth of March, 1862, 
she would not only have given the possession of 
Hampton Roads to the Confederates, but every 
Northern sea-port might have been at her mercy. 

"The fight between these two iron-clads was 
of momentous importance to the United States and 
the Confederate goverments; but its influence was 
not confined to them. It was felt by every naval 
power in the world. It made iron and steel sub- 
stitutes for wood in the construction of ships of 
war. It rendered valueless fleets upon which count- 
less millions had been expended. It revolutionized 
naval warfare. In its consequences, it was the 
most important of all naval battles. * * * vt * 

"I have always thought," continues McCul- 
loch, "that this battle between the Monitor and 
the Merrimac was the most important single event 
of the war. 

" If the Monitor had been destroyed or captured. 







Ivory Model of the Turret made in 1841, now in possession of 
The Patriotic League of the Revolution. 



NAVAL RECORDS 
show that in the hundreds of turreted vessels constructed by our Gov- 
ernment, fifty-five were built during the Civil War, from 1S61 to 1S65, 
thirteen of which were double turreted. 

Yet for all of these turrets used by the Government, the Inventor 
and Patentee received nothing. 



the Northern sea-ports would have been at the 
mercy of the Merriniac. The blockade would 
have been raised, the Southern sea-ports would 
have been opened to all the world. This would 
have been speedily followed by the recognition 
of the Confederacy as an independent state by 
France and England." 

Gentlemen, the world owes that victory to 
Theodore R. Timby. 

In the same eventful year, Mr. Timby invented 
the sighting and firing of guns by electricity; and 
our government granted him a patent for this 
invention July 8, 1862; No. 35,847. 

The Department rejected it at the time, but 
since then it has been accepted by our Govern- 
ment and this invention is now used in every 
turret all over the world; yet the inventor has 
never received for its use, one penny. 

John L. Worden, Commander of the Monitor, 
received a vote of thanks of Congress for his skill 
in that battle with the Merrimac. Through the 
Navy Department he also received the same dis- 
tinguished recognition by Gideon Welles. 

Ericsson, the engineer, has been eulogized in( 
every land, and showered with honors that never 
belonged to him. 

The heroes of Manilla and Santiago — even "the 
men behind the guns" — have been welcomed home 
with booming cannon, and the wildest enthusi- 
asm. But the man who made all these victories 
possible, has never j^et been recognized by the 
Federal Government. 



It is true that the universities have given Mr. 
Timb^^ the honorary degrees of Master of Arts, 
Doctor of Science, and Doctor of Laws. 

The Legislature of his own State of New York, 
in 1890, passed a concurrent Resolution asking 
Congress to grant him national recognition. 

General B. F. Tracy, ex-Secretary of the Navy, 
in a letter to Senator Chauncey M. Depew, February 
13th, 1902, says, ''From my examination of the 
evidence produced by Mr. Timby, I am satisfied 
that he has a just claim from our Government." 

Gentlemen, what are those grand achievements 
at Hampton Roads, and Manilla, and Santiago 
worth ? Can they ]3e estimated in dollars and 
cents ? Would this Government — for the considera- 
tion of billions of dollars — blot out those pages 
of American history ? And yet, this man of ex- 
alted character, and recognized "worth, who put 
the instruments of success into the hands of our 
Government, and made his country the envy of all 
other nations, has never received one cent from 
the Government in any way, shape, or form. All 
over the w-orld, his turrets have been used for 
many years. His system of coast defense is the 
pride of more than one foreign government. 

And the mighty guns Avhich his genius taught 
to aim and fire with such deadly accuracy, have 
boomed their glorious v^elcome and honor to re- 
turning soldier, and foreign prince, but never a 
sound to salute this greatest hero of them all, 
who in his advancing years has been neglected 
and forgotten. 



Gentlemen, shall the grandest service ever per- 
formed for this Republic, go longer unrewarded? 

Lives there a patriot under the protection of 
our flag, who will stand idly by and see an 
alien bear oif the honors that belong to an Amer- 
ican citizen? 

On this fortieth anniversary of the great battle 
at Hampton Roads,* we appeal to you in the 
name of this United Republic, for the recognition 
of one of its saviours. 

For the sake of his children and grand-children, 
we appeal to you in the name of justice and honor. 

We appeal to you in the interest of historical 
truth. 

We appeal to you as patriots who are proud 
of American genius and valor. 

We appeal to you as women whose only civil 
power is in petition -to Right This Great Wrong. 

Will you give this grand old hero, Theodore R. 
Timby, a national recognition and reward, for 
his great services, that he may spend the ad- 
vancing years of his still active and useful life, in 
peace and happiness? 

Then shall the false pages of history disappear, 
and the world shall emphasize the truth, that 
republics are not "ungrateful." 

Respectfully submitted, 

Virginia Chandler Titcomb, 

President Patriotic League of the Revolution. 

March 9, 1902. 

* March 9. j j • 



No. 1. (Copy.) 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
United States Patent Office. 

To all Persons to whom these Presents shall come : 

Greeting : 

This is to certify that the annexed is a true copy 
from the Records of this Office of an Official Letter dated 
December 3, 1881. 

In testimony whereof I, V. D. Stockbridge, 
Acting Commissioner of Patents, have caused the 
Seal of the Patent Office to be affixed this third 
day of December, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, and of the 
Independence of the United States the one hundred 
and sixth. 

V. D. STOCKBRIDGE, 
[Seal.] Acting Commissioner. 



(Copy.) 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 

United States Patent Office, 

Washington, D. C, Dec. 3d, 1881. 
Theo. R. Timby, Esq., Care Knight Bros., Washington, 
D. C. 
Sir: In compliance with your request of this date, 
you are respectfully informed that the records of this 
Office show that a Caveat was filed by you on January 
18th, 1843, for a "Metallic Revolving Fort," to be used 
on land or water, and to be revolved by propelling en- 
gines located within the same and acting upon suitable 
mechanism. Respectfully, 

M. SEATON, 

Chief Clerk. 



12 



No. 2. (Copy.) 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 
United States Patent Office. 
To all Persons to whom these Presents shall come : 
Greeting : 

This is to Certify That the annexed is a true copy 
from the Records of this Office of a certain portion of the 
Specification, in the matter of the Letters Patent granted 
Theodore R. Timby, September 30, 1862, ante-dated July 
8, 1862, No. 36,593, for Improvement in Revolving Battery 
Tower. 

In testimony whereof, I, V. D. Stockbridge, 
Acting Commissioner of Patents, have caused the 
Seal of the Patent Office to be affixed this eighth 
day of December, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, and of the 
Independence of the United States the one hundred 
and sixth. 
[Seal. ] Y. D. STOCKBRIDGE, 

Acting Commissioner. 

Theodore R. Timby, of Worcester, Mass., Letters Patent No. 36,593, 
dated September 30, 1862. 
Impt. in Revolving Battery Tower. 

Last 2 paragraphs of Spec. 

Although I have described certain mechanism for effecting the revo- 
lution of the tower, yet this is only by way of illustration. I wish 
it to be distinctly understood, that I do not limit myself to any mechan- 
ical means for producing the revolution, nor to any form of tower, 
nor yet to the materials of which it may be constructed. But having 
described my invention and the manner in which it operates; and 
having pointed out one method of practically carrying it into effect. 

What I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 
ent of the United States is, a revolving tower for defensive and offen- 
sive wrarfare, w^hether on land or water. 
Witnesses: THEODORE R. TIMBY. 

Edw. F. Brown, \ 

J. W. Shugert, / 
Exd. H. M. H. 
E. A. M. 

Mr. Timby made every conceivable modification and 
improvement in his system of coast defense, which he 
patented, thus paying to the Government many thou- 
sands of dollars. 

13 



STATE OF NEW YORK. 

IN SENATE. 

Albany. April 24, 1890. 

Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That in view of the 
valuable services of Theodore R. Timby, a native and for 
many years a resident of the State of New York, whose 
invention of the revolving turret gun battery, according 
to evidence laid before the Finance Committee of the Sen- 
ate, appears to have led to the construction of the iron- 
clad Monitor, the Legislature of the State of New York 
regards it a fitting if not an imperative duty of Con- 
gress to make such investigation into the question of the 
authorship of the invention thereof as shall do ample 
justice in the premises and vindicate the genius that con- 
tributed so largely in rescuing the country from a grave 
peril during the darkest days of its existence. 

By order, 

JOHN S. KENYON, 
In Assembly, Clerk. 

May 2, 1890. 
Concurred in without amedment. 

By order of 

C. A. CHICKERING, 

Clerk. 

STATE OF NEW YORK, 1 

Office of the Clerk of the Senate, j 

I have compared the preceeding copy of resolution 
with the original on file in this office and I do hereby 
certify the same to be a correct transcript therefrom 
and of the whole thereof. 

Witness my hand and seal of office of the Clerk of the 
Senate, at the City of Albany, the 4th day of Feb- 
ruary, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one. 

[Seal.] JOHN S. KENYON, 

Clerk of the Senate. 



^4 



THE ABLEST EXPERT AUTHORITIES ON 
THE TIMBY SYSTEM, 



Po'keepsie, N. Y., Sept. 12, 1885. 
Mr. T. R. Timby: I 

if 

Dear Sir : A thorough investigation of your new sjs- ^ 

tern of Coast Defense shows it to be not only invulner- ^' 

able, but incomparably superior to the two-gun turret ? 
invented and patented by you , and first used on the . 

original "Monitor,'^ built in 1862, under the supervision '\ 

of Capt. John Ericsson, Engineer, on a contract made 0' 

with the United States Government by myself and others. „' 

The advantages of your new system are — | 

First. Greater security to both guns and garrison. | 

Second. Greater rapidity of fire, and, 1 

Third. Absolute accuracy of aim, all of which are | 

indispensable in establishing absolute defense. f. 

JOHN F. WINSLOW, | 

Contractor and Builder of the Monitor. f 



Washington, D. C, April 11, 1885. 
A careful examination shows that the Timby System 
of sighting and firing heavy guns at long range makes 
one gun do the execution of fifty as they are now 
handled. 

WM. W. BELKNAP, 

Late Secretary of War. 



Office of the Admiral, 

Washington, D. C, June 19, 1885. 
From observation and experience I can say that not 
more than one shot in sixty takes effect at two miles 
range, w^hen fired by a shore battery in an engagement 
with a vessel moving. 

After a careful examination of the plan of sighting and 

15 



firing guns in the "Timby System" of Coast Defense of 
1885, I am of the opinion that seventy per cent, of the 
shots fired at long range should take effect upon an at- 
tacking vessel, 

DAVID D. PORTER, 

Admiral. 



* * * I think a Timby turret of proper thick- 
ness, armed w^ith ten one-hundred ton guns, superior to 
ten of the heaviest iron clads that could be brought into 
the waters of the United States. 

Respectfully submitted, 

DAVID D. PORTER, 
July 3, 1886. Admiral. 

In this examination before the Sub-Committee of Ap- 
propriations, on July 1st, 1886, Admiral David D. Porter, 
U. S. Navy, said as follov^s: 

"I attacked Fort Fisher, mounting seventy-four guns, 
with my fleet of fifty-five vessels, carrying four hundred 
and thirty guns (beside reserve), and opened fire at a 
range of three-fourths of a mile. We threw 54,000 
shot and shell before we silenced the guns of the fort. 
Had we been using the Timby System we would have 
silenced these guns in fifteen minutes." 

Question. "Admiral, suppose the fort had been de- 
fended by a ten-gun Timby battery, what would have 
been the result?" 

Admiral Porter, "My fleet would have been whipped." 
July 1, 1886. E. JOHN ELLIS. 



No. 463 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., 

February 27, 1882. 

In my judgment the adoption of the system of Coast 

Defense proposed by Mr. Timby would do much to settle 

the problem of national security against invasion by an 

enemy's fleet, for it possesses the advantage of being a 

i6 



powerful element of defense, and one which cannot be 
neutralized as such by being placed in opposition hands. 
Any and all marine devices, be they ever so destructive, 
are at once neutralized as a defense if used by attacking 

forces. 

H. W. SLOCUM, 

Late M. C, late Maj. -General U. S. A. 

I entirely concur in the above statement of Gen. H. 

W. Slocum. 

J. N. BONAPARTE. 

Washington, D. C, Nov. 11, 1885. 



Alfred P. Boller, 

Civil Engineer and Contractor, 

71 Broadway. 

New York, April 4, 1882. 
T. R. TiMBY, A. M. S. D. 

Dear Sir: I have carefully examined your system and 
plans of Coast Defense. I regard them as thoroughly 
practical, and would be very glad to contract with re- 
sponsible parties to build one or more of these citadels, 
and would give ample security that they would yield all 
the results that are claimed for them by yourself. 

Yours truly, 

ALFRED P. BOLLER, 



Wilmington, Delaware, June 26, 1885. 
Theodore Ruggles Timby, Esq., 

1213 F St., N. W., Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir: I thank you much for the opportunity, 
which you afforded me some weeks ago, for an examina- 
tion of the drawings, specifications and models of your 
system of Coast and Harbor Defense. 

A careful examination of all its details warrants the 
conclusion that in its ability to resist attack your forti- 
fication is simply invulnerable, while to a hostile fleet, 

17 



attempting to force a passage, its assault would be 
attended with immense destruction. * * * 

I find nothing therein of an impracticable character 
in so far as construction and operation relate, nor any- 
thing which a first-class engineering works could not 
readily build. 

I am very truly yours, 

WILLIAM G. GIBBONS, 
President "The Pusey & Jones Company." 



Washington, D. C, June 27, 1885. 
Theodore R. Timby, Es^. 

Dear Sir : To be effective, as against heavy rifled guns, 
the Monitor turret must have been improved as much as 
the guns have been in the last twenty years. You have 
made that improvement. 

W. A. BARTLETT, 

Expert in Ordinance. 



Washington, D. C, June 8, 1885. 
From an examination of the "Timby System" of 
Coast Defense, I am satisfied of its superiority over any 
other plan. JOHN L. WORDEN, 

Commander of the Monitor, 
Rear Admiral, U. S. N. 

I concur in the above statement of Rear Admiral 
Worden. W. S. ROSECRANS, 

Register U. S. Treasurj'-, late Maj. Gen. U. S. A., and 
Engineer. 

I am permitted to make the following extract from a 
private letter from Admiral Ammen : 

T. R. T. 

Ammendai.e, July 30, 1886. 
I quite subscribe to the expression of an eminent friend 
in relation to the Timby System of Coast Defense, that 

i8 



the humanitarian should recognize in its adoption, the 
doing away in a great measure with attacks on har- 
bors and cities by fleets. 

Very sincerely yours, 

DAN'L AMMEN, 

Rear Admiral, U. S. N. 



Washington, D. C, February 2, 1885. 
With the most powerful fleet I would not attempt 
to force a passage defended by such works as proposed 
by Mr. T. R. Timby. S. B. LUCE, 

Commodore U. S. Navy. 



New York, 19th July, 1887. 
I have carefully examined the plans of the "Timby 
System" of Coast Defense. 

In my judgment, they are not only the most formida- 
ble, but in every respect the most desirable that have 
come to my notice, and in every way superior to the 
Coast Defense of the United Kingdom, or any others with 
which I am acquainted. 

FRED'K T. WARBURTON, 
Lieutenant Colonel, Retired Royal Engineers. 



Washington, D. C, July 1, 1885. 

The "Timby System" of Coast Defense is, in my 
opinion, incomparably the best. 

It affords greater security to both guns and garrison, 
and insures greater rapidity and accuracy of fire than any 
other known method of defense. A presiding officer, in 
the lookout of the turret, is enabled to sight and fire 
every gun with rapidity and effect, at any point on the 
horizon within range. S. B. LUCE, 

Commodore U. S. Navy. 

19 



HON. JOHN F. WINSLOW, 

The principal contractor and builder of the original 
Monitor, in a letter to Mr. T. R. Timby, says : 

PouGHKEEPSiE, N. Y., March 21, 1889. 

"T. R. Timby, Esq.: 

"Mj Dear ^y^ .****** * 

"Because of your modesty in not saying a word about 
yourself and of the credit due to you for originating the 
Revolving Turret, to which all the honor belongs, and 
which was the central, crowning feature of the Moni- 
tor. ******* 

"The success achieved by the Monitor was due solely 
to the turret and her able commander, and that success 
would have been far more signal if the turret had been 
mounted on an ordinary iron-clad ship. 

(Signed.) "JNO. F. WINSLOW." 



20 



CONTEMPORANEOUS LITERATURE IN EVIDENCE. 



Harper's Monthly of Januar3^ 1863, pages 241 to 248, 
gives an account of "The Revolving Tower and its In- 
ventor" — Theodore R. Timby — with five illustrations. 



The Rev. John Todd, D.D., of Pittsfield, Mass., in a 
series of lectures to children, entitled, "Nuts for Boys to 
Crack," page 166; published by the American Tract 
Societ}^ in 1866, under the caption of, "The Curious 
Little Work-shop," to which he likens Mr. Timby 's brain, 
says: "In that little shop, the revolving turret of our 
iron-clad Monitor was first made — which perhaps, under 
God, has been the salvation of our country." 



The New American Cyclopedia of 1864, pages 719 to 
723, gives an illustrated account of Mr. Timby's inven- 
tion. 

All of the leading newspapers of that period give 
practically the same account, as do most of the cyclo- 
pedias that are considered reliable. 



NEAL DOW. 

The venerable statesman. General Neal Dow of Maine, 
in a letter to ex-Senator Pomeroy, under date of March 
21, 1889, says: 

"That Mr. Timby is the inventor of the Revolving 
Turret is certain ; and I can see no sense or justice in giv- 
ing to another the honor which belongs to him ; on the 
contrary, he is entitled to the thanks of Congress and a 
pension often thousand dollars a year." 



ADMIRAL DANIEL AMMEN. 

Admiral Ammen says:— "To question Mr. Timby's 
claim as the inventor of the Revolving Turret as used on 
the Monitor, would seem like wilful ignorance." 



EXTRACT FROM JAMES PARTON'S BOOK OF BIOG- 
RAPHY ON THEODORE R. TIMBY. 

Published in 1868, ry A. S. Hale & Co., Hartford, Conn. 

In "The People's Book of Biography— Lives of The 
Most Interesting Persons of All Ages and Countries," by 
James Parton, we find the names of Washington, John 
Adams, Galileo, Hernando Cortez, Thomas Jefferson, the 
two Catos, Peter the Great, Alexander Hamilton, La- 
Fayette, Theodore R. Timby, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, 
Lord Palmerston, Homer, and seventy other notables 
prominent in the world's history; published in 1868, (just 
after the Civil War.) In a four page sketch of Dr. Timby, 
the author says: 

"THEODORE R. TIMBY." 

"It is safe to say that not one in ten of the Amer- 
ican people ever heard of the gentleman whose name stands 
at the head of this article. Still more certain is it that 
ever}^ American citizen is indebted to him for a service 
of the greatest importance. ****** 

"Who will ever forget that Sunday evening in March 
1862, when an 'Extra' horrified us all with the intelli- 
gence that the long derided iron-clad monster, Merrimac, 
had 'come out,' at last and sunk the Congress, captured 
and burnt the Cumberland, and driven the Minnesota 
aground and thrown shot into the camp at Newport 
News. ******** ^ * * 

"But oh, the relief when we seized the papers 
the next morning and read the strange tale of the 
Monitor's interposition; how a 'small raft with a cheese 
box on it ' had come between the Merrimac and her help- 
less prey, the grounded Minnesota, and after a four-hour 
fight had driven the Monster off disabled ! If on that 
day I could have gone downtown and pointed out to 
the crowd in Wall Street the man in whose brain the 
idea of the Monitor originated ; or still better, if I could 
have taken him on board the rescued Minnesota, would 
it not have required all the spell of discipline to prevent 



the sailors from hugging him to within an inch of his 
life? I have the honor of presenting this gentleman to 
the reader: Theodore R. Timby is his name. He is a 

a native of Dutchess County in the State of New York. 

* * * * •;> •» * 

"Strange to relate, this invention was twenty years 
old when the war broke out, and Mr. Timby's invention 
had slumbered for a period of eighteen years. The ar- 
row had remained in the national quiver all that time, 
to be drawn forth at a critical moment, and used with 
an effect that astonished all the world. 

"Theodore R. Timby was born in 1822, a farmer's son, 
educated in the public schools of his native State, and 
was an inventor from childhood. At the age of sixteen 
he made one of the most brilliant inventions of our age, 
that of the floating dry-dock. * * * * ^ model 
made at Syracuse was brought to New York, where it 
was exhibited to President Tyler in the Governor's room 
in the City Hall in the month of June of 1843. The 
invention was admired by all. * * * * In 
1843, Mr. Timby could get no officials to urge the adop- 
tion of his invention. "" * ^'' "' In 1848, he 
made such progress as to get a committee appointed to 
examine his plans and models; one member of this com- 
mittee was Jefferson Davis. These gentlemen joined the 
Chief of Ordnance in reporting favorably upon the in- 
vention to Mr. Marcy, the Secretary of War, and there 
the matter rested. * * * * j^r. Timby then 

went to France and submitted his plans to Louis Na- 
poleon. He had no better success in Paris than in 
Washington. 

"Never did he cease to meditate and improve upon 
his original conception. * ^^ * * When the 
war broke out in 1861, he felt that the time had come. 

* * * * The value of the idea was not fully 
recosmized. It was not tmtil the immortal Monitor had 
done her glorious work in Hampton Roads a year later 
that Mr. Timby's invention was hailed throughout the 

23 



world as a most important addition to the art of 
war. 

"His claim to the invention was not disputed, nor 
could it be. * * ->^ «• * * * 

"The only safeguard our cities have is the fleet of tur- 
reted iron-clads, which originated in the ingenious brain 
of Theodore R. Timby. Whether these are sufficient, with- 
out the aid of iron-clad forts on land, is a question the 
solution of which ought not to be left until we are 
again involved in war." 



24 



The following letter is also significant : 

"New York, August 23, 1890. 

"Mj- Dear Mr. Timby — I am reminded of you to-day 
by the fact, that our nation is paying marked honor to 
the dust of one who made his name illustrious by usurp- 
ing honor which rightfully belonged to you, but to which 
the American people at large, including men in public life, 
seem to have been totally blind. I refer, of course, to 
Ericsson and to the name and fame he gained by being 
the builder, and supposed inventor of the Monitor, which 
in the supreme moment of our Navy's peril proved its 
superiority by disabling and silencing w^hat was considered 
by our then enemy to be an impregnable and irresistible 
antagonist, and which had proved its ability to rout and 
destroy any w^ar vessel then known. 

"Had this great nation known that Ericsson was 
only employed by the contractors who built the Monitor, 
as an engineer, and that the revolving turret which des- 
troyed the Merrimac was your invention, the result to 
Ericsson would have been different, and the name of 
Timby would have been lauded instead of his. 

"To-day, this country, at great expense and v^ith the 
highest honor ever paid to any individual in obscure life, 
returns to Sweden, his native land, the body of Ericsson, 
eulogizing him as the inventor and builder of the Moni- 
tor — that 'cheese box on a raft,' as it was called, the 
formidable part of which, the 'cheese box,' was your in- 
vention. While the 'raft,' which proved to be of faulty 
construction, w^as his. 

"Where you are to-day I know not, but I address my 
letter to the Ebbett House, Washington, so as to assure 
you that you have the sympathy of at least one native 
American because of the wrong they did you, and the ex- 
pression of his hope that this wrong may be righted, and 
that the name of Theodore Ruggles Timby may have its 
rightful place in history. 

"Let me hear from you. Sincerely your friend, 

"ROBERT F. BROOKE, 
"121 Clymer Street, Brooklyn." 

25 



Admiral Braine while leading the procession which 
followed John Ericsson's body to the United States 
cruiser that carried his remains to Sweden, said to his 
companion : 

" We are honoring the wrong man ^ 

James G. Blaine, on the day before his last nomination 
for the Presidency of the United States said: 

"That nothing has been done in recognition of Mr. 
Timby's great services to this country, is a National dis- 
grace.^' 



(Copy.) 
General Benjamin F. Tracy writes as follows: 

"New York, February 13, 1902. 
"Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, Washington, D. C. 

"M7 Dear Senator Depew: "Mrs. Virginia C. Tit- 
comb, of Brooklyn, New York, is anxious to secure your 
assistance in a matter of patriotism and justice, and I 
venture to give her this letter to you. 

" Mrs. Titcomb is the representative of a large com- 
pany of patriotic women in Brooklyn, w^ho are striving 
to do tardy justice to an American inventor who has 
rendered great service to the nation. 

"From my examination of the evidence produced by 
Dr. Timby, I am satisfied that he has a just claim for 
compensation from our Government. 

"Very truly yours, 

(Signed) "B. F. TRACY." 



26 



RESOLUTION OF THE PATRIOTIC LEAGUE OF THE 
REVOLUTION. 

May 7, 1900. 
Whereas, The Legislature of the State of New York 
has investigated Theodore R. Timby's claim to the inven- 
tion of the Revolving Turret used on the Monitor, and 
other Turret ships of our Navy, and has memorialized 
Congress by passing a concurrent resolution to that 
effect ; and 

Whereas, The said Theodore R. Timby invented and 
patented the firing of guns by electricity, both inventions 
of which have been of incalculable service to the United 
States; and 

Whereas, The said Timby's claim is recognized by all 
who have investigated it; now therefore, we, the Patriotic 
League of the Revolution, do most earnestly join in ask- 
ing that ample justice be done the said Theodore R. Tim- 
by, by the Congress of the United States, in some fitting 
act or expression. 



We heartily endorse the action of the Patriotic League 
of the Revolution, and join in the petition that justice be 
done our countryman. 

(Signed) 

Eugenia Washington, Founder of the Daughters of 
the American Revolution. 

Mary Desha, Founder of the D. A. R. 

Susan R. Hetzel, Historian General of the D. A. R. 

Cornelia C. Fairbanks, President General, National 
Society, D. A. R. 

Althea Randolph Bedel, Vice-President General 
(New Jersey), National Society, D. A. R. 

Mary S. Lockwood, State Regent, D. C. 

Ellen M. Cotton, Vice-President General, (California), 
National Society, D. A. R. 

27 



CO-OPERATION OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE 
AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

At the last session of the Continental Congress of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, the following 
resolution was passed: 

Washington, D. C, Feb. 22, 1902. 
Whereas, The Patriotic League of the American Revo- 
lution is engaged in the correction of inaccuracies of the 
history of the United States, as taught in all of our 
schools and academies: therefore be it 

Resolved, That the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution co-operate with the Patriotic League of the Revolu- 
tion in this important work. 

Presented by Mrs. Titcomb of New York. 



28 



NAVY DEPARTMENT. 

Washington, March 21, 1902. 

Madam: Receipt is acknowledged, with yonr letter 
of the 15 th instant, of the memorial to Congress pre- 
pared by yourself as President of the Patriotic League 
of the Revolution, and endorsed by vSeveral officers and 
prominent members of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, the purpose of which is to secure recognition 
of Theodore R. Timby as the inventor of the revolving 
armored turret, first used on the "Monitor" during the 
War of the Rebellion, and now extensively used on ships 
and in fortifications, and fitting compensation to Mr. 
Timby for the benefits that have resulted to the country 
by reason of his invention. 

The subject of the memorial is an interesting and im- 
portant one, and as the circumstances recited by you are 
so much at variance with the accepted version of the ori- 
gin of the "Monitor," the matter is worthy of investiga- 
tion in order that justice may prevail. 

The course adopted by the League, that is, of request- 
ing action by the Congress, is the proper one, as the 
question involved is of a kind that could not be consid- 
ered by the executive branch of the Government, nor, 
owing to the Statute of Limitations, be settled by the 
courts. 

I wish you and your associates speedy success in the 
eflfort to have the truth in regard to this matter estab- 
lished. 

Very respectfull}', 

JNO. D. LONG, 

Secretary. 

Mrs. Virginia Chandler Titcomb, 

No. 101 Lafayette Avenue, 

Brooklvn, N. Y. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 763 649 9 



i| 



f^ign of pe "^tonsf €aqU 
'JProohlpn-jftew goth 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



Hill III nil 
013 763 649 9 



pH8J 



